10:30am Thursday 9th September 2010
By Paul Teed
Firefighters had to break open a door to rescue a red-faced lawyer and defendant after they were locked in a meeting room at Epsom County Court for three hours.
Crews from Epsom fire station were called to the court, in East Street, Epsom, at about 3.15pm on Tuesday after the lawyer, a client and a third person spent more than two hours trying to free themselves.
They were believed to have been in the room discussing a case before discovering the electronic key code lock had broken as they tried to leave.
Epsom fire station said the trio were waiting to attend a court hearing when they realised they were trapped. Firefighters had to break to door off its hinges to get them out.
Mark Kram, a spokesman for Her Majesty’s Court Service, said he did not know how the lock broke, or whether the lawyer and defendant missed their case.
The court will repair the damage firefighters caused to the door, he said.
Mr Kram said: “I can confirm three people were trapped in a room due to a faulty door in Epsom County Court. The fire brigade were called and they opened the door, and we are investigating how it happened.”
A spokesman from Epsom fire station said: “Three people were waiting to attend court and got locked in, we went and had to release them from the meeting room.
“It was an electric door with a coded lock. There was a malfunction with the key coded door lock and it didn’t work, and we had to ease the door off its hinges.
“They were locked in for two to three hours, they were trying to get out for a while before we resorted to breaking the door down.”
Epsom County Court declined to comment.
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